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© Talk for Writing 1

The GameTalk for Writ ing Home-school booklet

by Maria Richards

© Copyright of Maria Richards and Talk for Writing 2020.

No part o f this publication should be placed online, shared or reproduced without permission.

www.talk4writing.com

Year 5


The Game Year 5 Workbook By Maria Richards

Welcome to The Game workbook.

Inside, you will find lots of things to work through that will help you with your reading and writing skills and build on the work you do at school.


Stimulus – The World of Jumanji In 1981 Chris Van Allsberg wrote a book called Jumanji. In the story, a brother and sister discover a game that turns fiction into real life. Whatever square you land on in the game, brings a new challenge to overcome. Worst still, the challenge becomes a reality for everyone around.

If you have access to the Internet, type this into Google:

https://cutt.ly/JtxrUyf

This is a link to the original movie trailer for Jumanji in 1995 and you can see the consequences of playing the game! First check with an adult that it’s ok to do this.


Get Plotting! Now let’s take a look at a story that follows the

same plot idea as Jumanji. The Game is a finding tale and has this simple underlying plot pattern:

Basic story structure Structure of a finding tale

Opening Introduce the main character/s (MC)

Build up MC goes somewhere and finds an unusual/amazing/important object

Problem Something goes wrong – it is the fault of the object

Resolution MC puts back/hides/throws away the object – the problem is solved

Ending All is well again and lessons have been learnt

You can listen to a recording of The Game story below here: https://soundcloud.com/talkforwriting/game

The Game

Danny and Susie were bored. It was wet play again and it felt like they

hadn’t seen the playground for weeks. Rivers of greasy rain streaked the

classroom windowpanes and pooled to make gigantic puddles in the centre

of the netball court. Another lunchtime inside was clearly stressing Mrs

Allbright, as she seemed to be tense and a bit more snappy than usual.

She sat at her desk with a steaming cup of tea and marked books with

the ferocity of a wild beast. To top it all, every good game was being used

and only the tub of dominoes was left. Everyone knew that half of them

were missing and the other half had been chewed by the school ‘Reading

Dog’. Danny and Susie searched the classroom for something to do.

To their dismay, the comic box was empty, the iPads had been snapped up

by Freya and her gang and Billy seemed to have started a resurgence of

the game Slap, which didn't look like fun at all. As the two friends


squeezed past the art table to get to the wet-play books, a tatty,

cardboard box fell from the top shelf of the bookcase. Susie picked it

up.

“I’ve never seen this game before,” she said, wiping the dust from the

unusual lid. It was embossed with intricate patterns and around the

edges were pictures of animals, insects and other strange creatures.

“An animal game? Boring!” said Danny, already losing interest.

“Oh come on, let’s play. There’s nothing else to do,” suggested Susie,

smiling widely and shaking the box.

They sat down in a quiet corner, lifted the lid and took out the board.

What next? We’ve stopped at an interesting part of the story. Summarise below what you think could happen next.

Now let’s find out how close your predictions were. Read on!

“Looks simple enough,” said Danny, ever impatient, as he set the counters

onto the start line. They were jungle animals: a rhino and a jaguar. He also

shuffled the game cards and laid them in a neat pile. “Let’s just start and

learn as we go.”

Susie went first. She grasped the dice and threw them down onto the

centre of the board. An eight! She moved her rhino eight paces, to land

on an orange-coloured square. It showed a picture of a giant Tarantula.

She lifted a game card and read it out. “If you do not catch this beast,

then you’re on the menu for its next feast.” She stared at Danny and

shrugged. “I don't get it!” she said.

At that moment, the table began to shake, the windows rattled and the

floor vibrated. Everyone stopped what they were doing and the room fell

silent.

I predict…


“EARTHQUAKE!” shouted Billy, bursting into laughter. He soon stopped,

as in a blink of an eye, an enormous spider, bigger than a horse, shot out

of the game and landed in the centre of the crowded classroom. Everyone

froze. Its enormous, hairy legs were tensed, ready to pounce and its

whole body seemed to pulse. Eight, bulging eyes scanned the room and

then …

It sprung into action. It crushed the tables, smashed the windows and

flung children all around the classroom with a flick of its legs. It powered

towards Mrs Allbright as she stood rooted to the floor in terror. The

room was filled with shrieks of panic and despair.

“What shall we do?” shouted Danny desperately, pressing himself tightly

against the wall.

“Read the instructions,” ordered Susie. “We have to stop it!”

Quickly, they scrabbled around to find the box underneath all the mess.

They rescued it from under a pile of maths books and scanned the

upturned lid to read the instructions. All the while, the spider got closer

and closer to their teacher. It stretched out its forelegs, ready to grab

her. Her eyes widened in horror as she realised what was coming next.

“It says we’ve got to throw two sixes to end the game,” screeched Danny,

looking pale. Susie grasped the dice again. She threw and she threw and

she threw. No luck. She glanced up and saw the spider had her teacher in

its grasp. Its striped legs were holding her in a vice-like grip. She threw

again and then again, faster and faster each time and then, just as she

was losing all hope, TWO SIXES!

Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a loud hissing sound. It pierced the

air and everyone covered their ears. A flash of light streaked through

the classroom and the game rattled into life. It started to suck

everything into a vortex in the centre of the room: the mess, the

children, the spider, Mrs Allbright. There was an almighty boom and then

… nothing.

Danny and Susie opened their eyes. Everything was back to normal; even

Mrs Allbright was back in her chair, marking with the ferocity of a wild

beast. Then the bell went.


“Pack up, Class 5!” ordered Mrs Allbright. “Science starts in two minutes

and we’re looking at animals in their habitats.”

Susie looked at Danny and raised her eyebrows. They carefully packed

the contents of the game back into the box. Everything went in except

the dice and the animal counters, which Susie wrapped in a paper towel

and placed into the bin instead. They put the lid on the box and lifted it

high up onto the bookshelf. They never wanted anyone to play that game,

ever again!

Everyone settled down to afternoon lessons. Everyone, that was, except

Billy. He had spotted something on top of the bookshelf that he’d never

noticed before and he intended to investigate it, the very next time they

were in for wet play … © Maria Richards 2020

What Do the Words Mean?

Go back through the story and underline any words you don't know the meaning of.

Now let’s investigate some of them together. The Sentence Challenge: Take a look at the definitions of the following words from the text. Take each word and put them into new sentences. How many sentences can you create?


… rain streaked the classroom

windowpanes

To streak along – to move rapidly

e.g. John streaked along the

pavement towards the crowd.

Now write your new sentences:

… a resurgence of the game slap

A resurgence – something that returns or starts again after disappearing for a while

e.g. The teachers have seen a resurgence of skipping games in the playground.



… the ferocity of a wild beast Ferocity – extremely fierce (fierce = strong, powerful, violent or frightening) e.g. We were surprised by the ferocity of the storm.


Likes, Dislikes, Puzzles & Surprises!

Now you have read the whole story, what did you like & dislike? What puzzled you (what questions do you have – why,

what, how …) and what surprised you?

I liked …


Let’s Think About the Text a Little More

We’re going to reread the text carefully and answer some comprehension questions about The Game.

1. Does The Game remind you of any other stories that you know? List them below.

I disliked …

I would like to know …

I was surprised …


2. Danny and Susie had a good choice of things to do at wet play time. Is that TRUE or FALSE? Circle the answer 3. Find and copy a word that is closest in meaning to disappointment.

4. Write down two things that children are doing in the classroom.

5. Is Mrs Allbright the teacher in the class? YES or NO? (Circle one) What are the clues to suggest this?

6. Why might another lunchtime inside be stressing Mrs Allbright?

7. Look at this comment from Danny:


“An animal game? Boring!” said Danny, already losing interest. Why might Danny think the game would be boring?

8. What were the three signs that something bad was going to happen once the game started?

9. List the things the spider did once it was out of the game:

10. The text says: “Her eyes widened in horror as she realised what was coming next.” What might Mrs Allbright be thinking at this point?


11. Why did Susie put the dice and counters into the bin?

12. Billy spotted the game on the shelf at the end of the story. What do you predict might happen the next time it’s wet play?

Now for Some Grammar

1. Relative clauses These clauses give more information about somebody or something in a sentence. They


begin with a relative pronoun like which/who/whose/ that. Let’s add some relative clauses into sentences that could be used in our story. This is the Drop-In Game: We’re going to drop a relative clause into sentences using who. For example: Mrs Allbright was marking books.

Mrs Allbright, who was tired and cross, was marking books.

Now you drop in a clause into the sentences below, using WHO:

Danny was looking out of the window.

Susie ran to the door with the box.

Freya watched The Voice on the iPad.

Now have a go at dropping a relative clause into the sentences below using which. For example:

The desks were covered in board games.

The desks, which were bright blue, were covered in board games.

The board game intrigued Susie.


The netball court looked slippery.

The dominoes were in the basket.

Now for some sentence imitation: Let s try using some sentence patterns from The Game and create new sentences using the same structure.

1. Opening a story with names + a short sentence

Danny and Susie were bored.

____ and ____ were _____.

Try your imitations: e.g. Gaby and Jonathan were excited.

2. Sentence of 3 for description

It crushed the tables, smashed the windows and flung children all

around the classroom with a flick of its legs.

It___________ , ___________ and ___________.

Try your imitations: e.g. It ran down the road, crossed the bridge and

jumped into the boat.

Write Away!


Now let’s concentrate on writing a story. Before we start, let’s do some warming up, so we’re ready to be creative!

The Adjective Game

Adjectives describe a noun, for example: The red car drove down the misty lane.

You can change the mood of your writing by choosing your adjectives carefully. Read this description of the Tarantula. The handsome Tarantula looked at the children. Its glistening, hazel

eyes scanned the room. Delicate hairs covered its plump body and

swayed like shimmering grass. Its solid legs, like thick branches, stood

strong.

The spider sounds quite pleasant. However, if we change the adjectives, you can make it sound much more scary. Give it a try! Fill in the gaps with an adjective that will help to make the spider sound gruesome. The __________Tarantula looked at the children.

Its _________ , ________ eyes scanned the room.

_________ hairs covered its _________ body and

swayed like __________.

Its ______ legs, like ____________, stood strong.

You could also change the verbs (underlined in bright blue), to make it sound even scarier! Write a new verb underneath the original one.

It’s now your turn to be an author. Let’s look at the problem section of The Game. We’re going to re-write it with new ideas.


The problem: At that moment, the table began to shake, then the windows rattled and

the floor vibrated. Everyone stopped what they were doing and the room

fell silent.

“EARTHQUAKE!” shouted Billy, bursting into laughter. He soon stopped,

as in a blink of an eye, an enormous spider, bigger than a horse, shot out

of the game and landed in the centre of the crowded classroom. Everyone

froze. Its enormous, hairy legs were tensed, ready to pounce and its

whole body seemed to pulse. Eight bulging eyes scanned the room and

then…

It sprung into action. It crushed the tables, smashed the windows and

flung children all around the classroom with a flick of its legs. It powered

towards Mrs Allbright as she stood rooted to the floor in terror. The

room was filled with shrieks of panic and despair.

“What shall we do?” shouted Danny desperately, pressing himself tightly

against the wall.

“Read the instructions,” ordered Sally, “We have to stop it!”

What other problems could the game cause? What else could come out of the game and what would it do?


Keep the classroom setting the same for now and plan a new idea below. You can make notes or draw what will come out of the game and what it will do once it’s released.

Instead of: Your ideas:

… crushing the tables

… smashing the windows

… flinging children round the room

… grabbing the teacher

… extra ideas


Using the ideas & sentences from the problem section of The Game, on a separate piece of paper, try out your new plans.

Follow this pattern: Start with the first strange events as a sentence of three and then show how the children react: At that moment, the table began to shake, the windows rattled and the

floor vibrated. Everyone stopped what they were doing and the room fell

silent.

At that moment, …

Next, introduce the new threat. Tell us where it came from and what it looked like: In a blink of an eye, an enormous spider, as big as a horse, shot out of the

game and landed in the centre of the crowded classroom. Everyone froze.

Its enormous, hairy legs were tensed, ready to pounce and its whole body

seemed to pulse. Eight bulging eyes scanned the room and then …

In the blink of an eye, …


Where else could this happen? Try a new setting for The Game. Change the classroom setting to somewhere else. Where could this happen? Plan a new idea below. You can make notes or draw. What will come out of the game in the new setting and what will it do once it’s released?

Instead of: Your ideas:

… what comes out of the game?

… what will it do?

… extra ideas

Now write your new problem, set somewhere else: start with the first strange event, then introduce the new threat and finally describe what the threat does.


Get Plotting Again!

Now let’s write a brand new finding tale. It doesn't have to be set in school or involve a game. I have put a few of my ideas below to help your thinking. You could even write the prequel of the story about what happens when Billy investigates the game the next time it’s wet play!

Think about: Your ideas

Where could the story take place? e.g. a field, a football match, a

restaurant, at home – where

else?

What could the object be? e.g. a book, shoes, wand, a phone,

a bucket, a pen - what else?

What happens when the object is found? e.g. events in the book come to

life, shoes turn you into different

people, wands cast disastrous

spells, phones turn people into

robots – what else?


Now add your ideas to the boxed-up planner, based on The Game, so you can plan your whole story:

Introduce the main characters

(MCs)and where they are

MCs find something they have

not seen before

The object that has been found

causes strange things to happen

MCs work out how to stop the

strange things

Everything is back to normal


Are you ready? Then

write it, read it and check it! See you at the end!

Well done! Now that you have a new story, why not publish it? Below are some simple instructions for making a mini book from a piece of A4 paper.

If you have access to the Internet, type this into Google: https://cutt.ly/QtvAkwq

Here, you can watch a mini-book being made and follow the instructions. Or try this:


© 2012 Book-making Activity for Tell Me About Your Day Today created by Lauren Stringer, www.laurenstringer.com

Make your book and illustrate it – enjoy! We’ve reached the end of our journey. I hope you’ve had fun!


I would rate my journey through this booklet (tick hot or cold):

I really enjoyed …


This workbook has helped me learn …


© Maria Richards for Talk for Writing Maria Richards, former teacher and National Strategy Literacy Consultant, now works with Talk for Writing to help schools develop the approach. To find out more about Talk for Writing, visit www.talk4writing.com. This resource is copyright. All materials herein, texts and supporting resources are copyright to Maria Richards & Talk for Writing. They are to be used to support children/staff/parents in home-learning ONLY and not for commercial gain or for training or sharing widely, in their original form or any variations. They must also not be shared online or on any social media platforms.

Thanks to Jon Ralphs, Lauren Stringer, graphics authors Dinosoft Labs on Flaticon.com

and photographers Markus Spiske, Frans Van Heerden and PC from Pexels.com, for sharing their content.

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